Auxiliary
by GrandNinjaMasterRen
Summary: When testing a theory became running from the Garrison, with a presumed dead ex in his arms, Adam knew his life would never be the same. Now, drafted into a war he never knew existed, he'll do whatever it takes to get them all home alive. If only the Galra would get on board with that... Oh, well, guess he's in it for the long haul.


**For Shiranai Atsune**

* * *

Keith crouched behind the boulder, waiting for the soldiers to move. Footsteps behind him signaled the return of his partner in crime.

"The charges have been set. Sixteen seconds." Adam whispered. Keith nodded and pulled up his bandana. He slipped closer to the tent.

Explosions rocked the night. Keith nodded his head, keeping time as he counted the seconds.

Dashing into the tent, Keith knocked the scientists, who were swarming about a body, unconscious. He moved to the poor guy strapped to the table.

"Shiro..?" Keith whispered. A quick decision and a flick of his knife freed the restraints from the man's body.

"We have to go," Adam said, bursting into the tent, "Our distraction wo- Takashi?" Keith was trying to pull his brother from the table, but his small frame made lifting the older man difficult. Adam rushed over to help. Between the two of the them they managed to get Shiro upright.

"Oh, no you don't!" A boy interrupted, "I'm saving Shiro." Two other boys trailed behind the first, but stopped at the doorway.

"Who are you?" Keith asked in abject confusion. Adam sighed.

"The name's Lance." At the lack of reaction from Keith, Lance continued, "We were in the same class at the Garrison..."

"Really," Keith asked, shifting Shiro's weight, "Are you an engineer?" Here, Adam cut in.

"We don't have time for this. Let's go." They piled onto Keith's tiny, one-seater hover bike.

"Mind if we catch a ride with you?" The smallest boy shrieked as he climbed up. Keith gunned the engine.

"Might want to hold on to something." Keith warned. The overloaded hover bike groaned as its pilot pushed it to the limit. The Garrison's ATV's were at an advantage, but Keith knew the terrain better.

"Can't this thing go any faster?!" Lance shouted over the wind.

"We could toss off some non-essential weight." Keith growled. Lance looked about.

"Okay, that was an insult."

"Not the time, you two." Adam said, tightening his grip on Shiro.

"Big guy, lean left!" The hover bike went careening to the side. The ATV's couldn't turn fast enough and some overturned and collided.

"Big guy, lean right!" To the other side, the bike listed. Keith gunned the engine again.

"Is that a cliff?" The littlest boy yelled, his voice raising to an ungodly pitch. The passengers, save for Adam and Shiro, began protesting.

"Yup." Keith smirked. The bike flew down the side of the ravine. Just before the bike could crash, Keith smoothly pulled it out of its dive.

With a glance over his shoulder he ensured the lack of the Garrison's pursuit.

...

* * *

Keith took them to a little house in the desert. Adam helped him settle the slightly stirring Shiro into a bedroom, whilst the cadets awkwardly milled about the living room.

"So..." the little one started, "I'm Pidge. The big guy's Hunk."

"Keith." The youth greeted distractedly.

"Professor Warner, what's going on?" Hunk asked Adam. Keith pointed at the curtained cork board.

"No." Adam said tiredly.

"It's all there." Keith said perching on a stool near the door. Lance's eyes darted between the two.

"What are you guys arguing over?"

"Shiro was abducted by aliens." Keith answered with a prim glance at Adam, who merely rolled his eyes.

Pidge's eyes widened. He slung his bag off his shoulder, and began pawing through it. Producing a notepad from the depths, Pidge showed Keith the transcripts of the com-chatter he'd been receiving. Hunk peered at the page over Keith's shoulder.

"Looks like a Fraunhofer line." Hunk said, rubbing his chin.

"I think it's the emission spectrum of this 'Voltron' thing the aliens are looking for." Pidge said frenetically.

"I could make a device to track it. Like- like a- Voltron geiger counter." Hunk said brightly.

"We could find Voltron first." Lance said.

"What do you need?" Keith asked, standing up.

"I'm not going to let the four of you run around chasing aliens." Adam said coolly.

"But-"

"Wha-"

"No fair-"

"Please-"

"Without adult supervision." Adam continued, "Go build your geiger counter. I'm going to wait for Takashi to wake up." Adam left the room.

...

* * *

Shiro awoke in a panic. Were was he?

"Relax, Takashi." A familiar voice said. A hand was on his head.

"You're safe. You're home." The voice cracked a little on the last word.

Shiro opened his eyes. The shadow looming over him focused into a face he'd been longing to see.

"Adam..?" Shiro tried to keep his voice from wavering, but the word came out as a near sob.

"I'm here, Takashi. You're okay. You're home. You're safe." Adam repeated. Shiro sat up.

"I- where are we?" Shiro asked haltingly.

"Keith's little house in the desert. He's been living here ever since they kicked him out of the Garrison."

"They kicked him out?!" Shiro interrupted.

"They would've forced him off Garrison property, but as I need to stay on Garrison property for the most part, and as I am Keith's legal guardian, Admiral Sanda and I have come to an... agreement." Adam explained, his voice becoming strained. Shiro gently set his bare feet against the cold tile. He clumsily stood.

"Be careful. They had you sedated." Shiro smiled reassuringly at Adam.

...

* * *

Lance glanced around the small room. Pidge, Hunk, and Keith were in the shed building their 'Voltron counter' and Lance was left alone. There was hardly anything personal in the house. It was cluttered, but there were no real signs of someone living here.

Except...

Two small pictures were pinned to the wall with thumbtacks. Lance moved over to look at them.

The first was of Keith. He was all of about four and missing his front teeth, but grinning at the camera as he presented a mangy dog to the camera person.

The second was of Shiro, Professor Warner, and Keith. It was maybe a few years old. Shiro's hair was black, and his uniform was that of a junior officer's. One of his arms was around Professor Warner's shoulders, the other rested on Keith's shoulder. Professor Warner had one hand on Keith's other shoulder and the other around Shiro's waist. Keith stood in front of the pair, looking shyly delighted to have been included.

Lance felt a pang of pity for his former classmate. How did that grinning child turn into the moody hothead that Lance knew.

Motion drew Lance's attention. Professor Warner and The Shiro walked out into the room. Play it cool.

"Hello, Mister- I mean, Captain Shiro-gane, sir. It's an honor to meet you." Lance stumbled over his words. Shiro exchanged a glance with Professor Warner.

"Lance, wasn't it?" Shiro asked, offering a hand for Lance to shake. Lance froze. The Shiro knew his name?

Lance took Shiro's hand. It was cold, metal and rubber. Shiro smiled at Lance, and turned to Professor Warner.

"Adam, where's the rest of the kids?" Professor Warner shrugged.

"Probably building their 'Voltron counter'." The man said with fond exasperation.

"Voltron? You're sure that's what they're looking for?" Shiro asked seriously.

"First, please, Takashi, tell me you didn't get abducted by aliens. Second, yes, I am fairly certain they said 'Voltron'." Professor Warner said.

"We need to find it." Shiro quickly.

"Well, they just finished the Voltron counter by the look on Pidge's face." Lance said peering out the window.

...

* * *

"Okay... I've lived in the area my entire life, I did not know this was here." Hunk said as they walked into the cave. Adam brushed some moss off a carving of a lion.

"Did anyone?" Pidge asked. Lance frowned as he scraped a bit of dirt off a carving.

The cave was bathed in blue light as the carvings began to glow.

"They've never done that before." Keith said, his voice shaking slightly.

The floor of the cave shook, sending them all to the ground, sliding down a waterfall.

Adam brushed the dirt an rocks from his palms and offered a hand to help Lance up.

The low blue tinged light must have been playing tricks on Adam's eyes because there stood, behind some kind of force field, a mechanical blue lioness.

"She's beautiful." Adam breathed.

"Does anyone else get the feeling that this thing's looking at them?" Lance asked.

"No." Shiro said, slightly confused.

"Yeah, the eyes are totally following me." Keith put his hand against the force field.

"I don't think-" Adam began.

"Maybe you have to knock to open it." Lance suggested. He knocked. The force field fell.

Adam stumbled back as visions assaulted his head. Five technicolor lions, flying in formation. A large robot. A group of humanoid beings. A castle on a hill.

"Woah." Keith breathed.

"Did anyone else see that?" Lance asked.

"Voltron is a robot! Voltron is a huge, awesome robot!" Hunk shouted.

"This is what they're after." Shiro murmured to himself.

The lion roared. She moved her head down lower, towards the humans below her. Adam couldn't tear his eyes away from the lion's mechanical jaw. The lion stilled, jaw to floor, mouth open.

"There's a door." Adam pointed out. Lance was the first to enter the lion. He sat at the controls as the rest of the group piled in, gazing at everything in wonder. Lance set his hands on the levers. The dashboard lit up with the image of the cave outside.

"Alright! Let's see what this baby can do!"

"McClain, that's probably not the best id-Woah!" Adam was cut off as Lance fired the thrusters.

"Lance, just set us down nice and easy." Shiro coached.

"I can't! It's like this thing has a mind of its own!" Lance cried as the lion launched herself skyward.

"Slow down this isn't a simulator!" Adam barked. Hunk was looking more nauseous by the second. Keith's nails dug in to the back of Lance's chair.

"Well that's good; I always wreck the simulator." Lance chirped cheerfully. Something filled the screen.

"Is that a wormhole?" Pidge asked. He sounded excited and scared. The lion charged right for the wormhole. Adam closed his eyes. When there was no pain or crash, he opened them.

The stars were different and the lion moved, slower, and more fluidly towards a planet.

"The lion wants to go there," Lance said. Something about his voice had changed.

"I think it's going home."

...

* * *

They piled out of the lion. Hunk was practically kissing the ground. Adam exchanged a glance with Shiro. They stood in front of a castle, the same castle Adam had seen in his vision. White, curving walls coming into points, the castle's door was closed and locked.

The lion roared.

"I knew it was going to eat us!" Hunk wailed.

The door made a horrible grinding noise as it opened. The group looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

Shiro took the lead, taking a step into the castle's darkness.


End file.
